Jessica Rizzo worked at a tearoom in Tulsa, Oklahoma while attending college. There, she became fascinated with baking and decorating cakes. Now, years later, the Auburn resident not only owns a bakery on N. College St., but now plans to expand and open a second Boulangerie location in Opelika.
After Rizzo moved to Auburn with her husband in 2020, she was able to pursue her passion for owning a local bakery and creating custom cakes. Boulangerie first opened its doors on in December 2023. Since then, Boulangerie has partaken in many special days and sweet memories, offering different flavors of cakes, sweets and coffees daily. Since then, it hasn't taken long for Boulangerie to outgrow the small bakery kitchen.
“My niche, what I’m good at, was always having a bakery, weddings, catering, things like that. I like to be a part of peoples’ special day,” Rizzo shared. “When you’re doing that, you’re making people happy and it’s usually a core memory that they’re going to have forever."
Boulangerie closed its original location on Jan. 31. However, to keep the bakery’s presence Downtown, Rizzo opened The Cafe just the next day, on Feb. 1. The Cafe is only three doors down from Boulangerie’s original location. The menu expanded to not only pastries, cakes and coffees but also breakfast, lunch and drink options.
In addition to The Cafe’s new storefront, Rizzo has been busy working on a commercial kitchen expansion in Opelika.
“We’re going into two spaces,” she shared. “We’re having the large commercial kitchen in Opelika, where it’s going to be more of a concept sort of like Crumbl where there’s not really a front of the house, it’s just a big open kitchen with counters for [bakery goods] pickup service.”
Recent renovations and expansions also allow Rizzo to experiment with European design choices that are strikingly different from Boulangerie’s feminine flowers:
“[The Opelika location will have] grays and greens and woods and darker colors, like marble, and a place that you’re going to want to study and hang out or have lunch or just cozy up into,” Rizzo described.
As renovation on the Opelika kitchen continues, Rizzo hopes that it will be open and available to serve the local community around Valentine’s Day. The new kitchen is located across the street from Z&Z Cigar, next to the new wine bar, Santé, on S. 9th St.
“[My husband and I] are a good team, but we have really good staff and a lot of people that are extremely loyal and devoted and are up for all the crazy things we want to do, and the new ideas. We have a lot of people that really want to keep Auburn and Opelika special,” Rizzo said. “To keep it special and small.”
Boulangerie’s Instagram account is a great source for customers to stay updated on opening, hours and new baked goods. Customers can also call to ask about their information for the day.
While Rizzo loves all of their sweet items, her favorite item is the cookie dough croissant.
“They’re something that we have every single day, and they are ridiculously good. They’re probably our number one seller, but at this time of year, we also do king cakes, and we make a praline king cake,” Rizzo said.
Whether you are looking for a quick lunch or a custom cake for an upcoming special occasion, these new small businesses in Auburn and Opelika could be perfect for you.
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